This is definitely how I feel as well. None of the other shit matters unless it comes already on the machine. Even then, it absolutely has to be rock solid stable long term for it to be comparative. Of course that’s asking a lot, considering people still take their PCs into geek squad or wherever else when something goes wrong (or their printer won’t connect).
This always reminds me of the Dell XPS option of having Ubuntu installed but of course that’s far away from “Microsoft literally pays us to sell their shit”. So, until that - or some type of adoption occurs on a B&M level/online-storefront - it’s going to be pretty “voluntary” in terms of adoption. It’s just comparatively so much more work in the layman’s sense.
It’s in a weird way the same with cars. It’s been statistically proven that most people specifically won’t go out of their way to get a simple utility pickup truck. They buy the big fuck you truck because that’s what the dealerships have. It’s the same thing with kids going to college and the parents taking them to buy a laptop for class. My point is that it’s far more easier to just use what you get than try to rehash it. Maybe you don’t even know that’s a possibility so you just settle. Of course this isn’t the only issue, but imo the largest determining factor. IBM had businesses sucking from the teet since computers dropped, and we still deal with the ramifications.
I’m seeing if I can get through tactician with this build, and it seems like it’s going well so far (no spoilers): necromancer wizard with weapon master feat to use great weapons. Haven’t added armor yet since I’m relying on blur for dodge, shield reaction, and blindness for large threats. Almost done with act 1 so I’m not sure how the power fantasy will look like later in the game or what items are available.
This has revolved around an item that sets intelligence to a specific value. So I was able to drop all int, put it into strength, and essentially be a lich-esque wizard. Been interesting to say the least and teleporting to baddies with misty step has been a lot of fun. I may go into the tadpole tree and spec into the skill that punishes when enemies miss their rolls (which they are disadvantaged from via blur and also the ilithid skill itself). The sustain is good with vampiric touch; and if I fall under half health for whatever reason, I have a greataxe that does additional damage.
This game is amazing so far.